Neutra Gem Seeks Steward - Page 2

Minimally altered since its construction, the home features an integrated carport, living room, a simple, functional kitchen, dining patio, two bedrooms, and two full baths. Taken together, as Mullin describes in the listing, the effect is "a minimalist paradigm paneled in wood."

The beauty in finding such an unadulterated Neutra is that it represents the original fabric of the architect's work, not a remodel. Here is the real-deal, accurate down to period lighting choices, cabinetry, built-in wood furnishings, a desk, and bookcases.

One unexpected delight is a cabinet that cleverly conceals a vintage turntable, a unique find in itself. "I posted that on my Instagram," Mullin says. "What were the odds of having the original hi-fi phonograph with a built-in speaker still there?"

Austrian-born architect Richard Josef Neutra, AIA, was born in Vienna in 1892. He served as a lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I, taking a leave in 1917 to complete his examinations at the German university Technische Hochschule.

After the war ended, Neutra worked with landscape architect Gustav Ammann in Switzerland, as city architect in Luckenwalde, Germany, and in the offices of Erich Mendelsohn in Berlin. In 1922, he married musician Dione Niedermann, the daughter of a Swiss electrical engineer, and became a father to three sons, Frank, Dion, and Raymond.

Neutra emigrated to the U.S., earning his citizenship in 1929. Southern California offered architects the opportunity and ideal climate for experimentation, and Neutra worked briefly for Frank Lloyd Wright, before living and working at Rudolf Schindler's Kings Road House in West Hollywood. Two of his well-known landscape designs are the garden for Schindler's Lovell Beach House, and the pergola and wading pool for Wright's Barnsdall House in Hollywood.

Developing his own architectural practice headquartered in Silverlake, Neutra designed his own West Coast variation of International Style modernist housing. Among the Neutra landmarks that can be visited today are the renowned Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research House in Silverlake, and the Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs, a vision of postwar leisure at its best.

Neutra passed in 1970, and his architect-son Dion carried on the Neutra legacy until his own passing in 2019. Today, physician Raymond Neutra runs the Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design, a private 501c3 foundation.

"People love history, and homes with the original features inside," Mullin says.

"We see it all the time, authentic preserved homes versus homes that are 'destroyed' inside. Take it from a realtor, it pays to preserve. If you're just thinking about it from the standpoint of dollars and cents, when we're selling the homes in their original condition, it pays to preserve—that's the bottom line."

With the Hinds residence, "We're so fortunate that this family simply took care of it the way anybody who loves their home takes care of their home. It's extraordinary." Adds Mullin. "I hope I have the opportunity to see the home again once it is polished and the luster of the beautiful wood is brought back."

For more info and photos on the Hinds listing, click here.